Wild Geese

Spike O’Sullivan being lined up for fights with David Lemieux and Canelo Alvarez?


Spike O’Sullivan [27(19)-2(1)] is in line for some very big fights if Eddie Hearn is to be believed.

The Matchroom boss had wanted the Cork middleweight to face New York star Danny Jacobs in the headline bout of a big card at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn on Saturday April 28th.

O’Sullivan had agreed to the fight, but the proposed match-up would fall apart and two-time world title challenger Jacobs now looks set to face undefeated Polish light middleweight Maciej Sulecki instead.

While O’Sullivan and his team have kept quiet on the reasons for this, Hearn has claimed that issues with Golden Boy Promotions – whom ‘Spike’ is one fight into a four-fight deal with – is what has prevented the fight taking place.

O’Sullivan is naturally disappointed to have missed out on the fight with Jacobs, but Hearn believes that the Mahon 33-year-old has very big fights on the horizon.

The English promoter has outlined that Golden Boy intend to build the Celtic Warriors fighter up as a prospective in-house opponent for Saul Alvarez and that there could be a massive unified world title fight in the works for O’Sullivan – if he can keep winning and if ‘Canelo’ defeats champion Gennady Golovkin in their monster rematch in Las Vegas on Saturday May 5th.

Indeed, if Hearn is correct, the Leesider could be set for a prominent appearance on this card against a hard-hitting former world champion in an effective title eliminator.

Speaking to IFL TV about the breakdown of the Jacobs fight, Hearn claimed that “they [Golden Boy] wouldn’t let him [O’Sullivan] because they’ve got plans for him.”

“I think they want to line a few Canelo opponents up.”

“They want to put him in with David Lemieux on the May 5th card.”

A fight with former IBF champ David Lemieux would mark another huge step in a remarkable rise for O’Sullivan who has put on two successive career-best performances on Golden Boy cards – first stopping Nick Quigley in four on an ESPN card before a stunning seventh-round stoppage of touted American Antoine Douglas in a HBO chief support bout.

Watch Eddie Hearn (and Billy Joe Saunders) speak to IFL TV in full below:

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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